Video on Hepatitis C Infection

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Complete Treatement For Hepatitis C in Ayurveda

HCV, Hepatitis C, Autoimmune hepatitis, autoimmune to hepatitis c, transplantation, liver transplantation, liver cirrhosis, chirossis, hepatitis b, hepatitis a, udiliv, azoran, hepatic resource powder, silyban, pantocid, pentodac, rifagut, hepamerz, dytor, Kesol, liver transplantation in hepatitis c, ferrium xt, bilbirubin, albumin, immunosuppressant, Duphalac, liver failure, hepatic encephalopathy, coma, pain killer, lasix, lacilactone, medication for cirrhosis, medication for HCV

Complete Treatement For Hepatitis C in Ayurveda

Ayurveda and the Liver

In Ayurvedic medicine the liver is the seat of ranjaka pitta along with the spleen. The definition of Pitta literally means bile, which is ranjaka pitta. Ranjaka pitta gives color to all the tissues. The Sanskrit word ?ranjaka? means to give color. Ranjaka pitta is responsible for erythrogenesis, the creation of red blood cells in the bone marrow, which are mixed with rasa dhatu, the plasma. Thus, ranjaka pitta is responsible for giving color to the blood.
The function of ranjaka pitta in the liver is the disintegration of hemoglobin, which produces heme and globin. From heme, bile is produced, and that bile is ranjaka pitta. Its' job is to give color to the urine, feces and sweat.
Ranjaka pitta in the stomach is intrinsic factor, which is responsible for production of blood in the bone marrow. Ranjaka pitta in the spleen kills bacteria and parasites as well as produces some white blood cells (rasa dhatu), so its job is more protective.
There is a functional integrity between the liver, stomach, spleen, and bone marrow. If the function of the liver is affected the bone marrow will also be affected. If the function of the stomach is affected, it will affect the liver. In a way, the spleen is to filter the blood and to send unwanted heavy, old red blood cells to the liver; the liver destroys them and separates the hemoglobin from the blood. Then the liver utilizes the hemoglobin that is liberated for the production of bile salts, pigment and enzymes. Therefore, when the spleen is enlarged the liver may also be enlarged and vice versa.
The Sanskrit word for liver is "yakrut". "Ya" means circulation and "krut" means action. Yakrut is an important seat of fire - the seat of anger, hate, envy, and jealousy. These emotions need to be processed and metabolized. These emotions want to come out but, if we suppress them, they accumulate in the tissues and lead to disease. Ayurveda does not separate emotions from the organs. We cannot separate body from mind and mind from consciousness.
Disorders of ranjaka pitta include hepatitis, anemia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and mononucleosis. Excessive bile production or a blockage in the flow of bile usually indicates high pitta, which in turn affects the agni or enzyme activities responsible for absorption, digestion and metabolism. Pitta can be aggravated by many factors of diet and lifestyle. These would include alcohol abuse, eating red meat, eating too much spicy or oily, heavy foods, lack of sleep, too much direct exposure to the sun and smoking. When pitta becomes aggravated liver diseases can result such as hepatitis and cirrhosis. Although viral type hepatitis such as hepatitis C is not mentioned in the classic Ayurvedic texts, similar symptoms are described under "kaamala".
Ayurveda describes two basic types of kaamala (hepatitis or jaundice).
1. Shakhasrita is caused by the minimal aggravation of pitta and kapha, and is easily curable.
2. Kumbha kaamala results from very high pitta and is difficult to cure. It can become incurable if not attended to immediately.
Panaki and haleemaka are two other types of hepatitis or jaundice that are explained in Ayurvedic texts. Panaki is late stage kaamala. Haleemaka is an advanced stage of anemia that occurs when both the vata and pitta are out of balance.

Pathogenesis
Due to the aggravation of pitta by excessive alcohol intake, too much heavy, oily, spicy food, etc. the liver can become diseased. When pitta is out of balance and disease begins in the liver this can result in disease of the blood, muscle tissue, and biliary system. The manifestation of this disease will be ?kaamala' or jaundice.
The symptoms of "kaamala include:
•Loss of appetite and taste
• Generalized weakness
• Yellowish discoloration of the eyes, nails, oral cavity, and urine
• Vague body pains
• Burning sensation
• Weakness in all sensory organs
Once hepatitis is advanced and the immune system is highly comprised emaciation will be present as well. Ayurveda teaches us that hepatitis involves all systems in the body including musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and the gastrointestinal system as well as the skin.
Symptoms of hepatitis such as generalized edema ( shotha), excessive thirst (atitrishna), bloody stools (krishna varna mala mutra), vomiting blood (rakta yukta chardi), red eyes (rakta netra), dizziness (bhrama), drowsiness (tandra), total loss of appetite (teevra agni mandya), and hepatic coma (nashta sanjna) indicate that the liver disease is at an incurable stage, and the patient is believed to be terminally ill.
Usually liver disease will present itself with certain signs and symptoms. These may include fatigue, jaundice, loss of appetite, mild fever, joint aches and pains, occasional nausea and or vomiting. Through the pulse you will feel many imbalances including but not limited to prana vata, vyana vata, apana vata, samana vata, sadhaka pitta, pachaka pitta, ranjaka pitta, rasa, rakta and medas dhata. The eyes may appear yellowish and burn which will show up as alochaka pitta in the pulse; the skin may have hives or rashes, which can show up as bhrajaka pitta in the pulse as well. The tongue will have a deep redness indicating the heat of rakta and ranjaka pitta. Palpating the abdomen may reveal a swelling or tenderness in the upper left quadrant where the liver resides. There will be other information available as to the type of lifestyle the person has lived, their constitutionⁱ and physical strength. Out of balance pitta, and poor agni play important roles in the symptoms of hepatitis and other liver disorders. In addition, low ojas is the essence of the immune system. Low ojas makes a person more vulnerable to immune system dysfunction or infections such as hepatitis.
According to Vaidya Ranjeet Nimbalkar, hepatic liver disease is caused by "vimargagamana", which is abnormal flow of constituents in other srotas resulting in abnormal accumulation of that constituent in the srota in which it is abnormally flowing. Also, it causes its defiiciency in its own srotasa. In the case of kaamala there is vimargagamana of raktamala pitta into the raktavaha srota, which should be going to the annavaha srota and excreted trough the purishavaha srota. Due to some abnormality of yakruta it flows into the rakta and then to all of the body. In the case of raktapitta, liquid part of various dhatus because of excessive heat of pitta, drains into rakta increasing its quantity. This is vimargagamana of uadaka of various dhatus in rakta, because of some functional abnormality of yakruta. Rasa and rakta, being liquid dhatus are more prone for vimargagamana. Also rasa and rakta dhatus are responsible for nourishment of all the other dhatus."

Ayurvedic Treatment of Hepatitis C

Any diet or lifestyle activity that aggravates pitta can be a contributor to hepatitis. These would include:
1. Alcohol abuse
2. Red meat
3. Spicy, oily, heavy foods
4. Lack of sleep
5. Too much sun exposure
6. Smoking
Treatment would be to balance pitta dosha and should be individually based for each person's imbalances. Herbs, meditation, diet and bodywork would all play an important role in the treatment. Diet should consist of the following:
1. sweet and bitter vegetables
2. sweet, ripe fruits
3. mung dahl, lentils
4. grains - oats, basmati rice, barley
5. dairy - butter, buttermilk, milk, cream
6. spices - coriander (fresh and dried), fennel, cardamom, dill, turmeric
Yoga postures for those strong enough to perform them should include vajraasana, shalabhasana, halasana, padahastasana, savasana, abdomen lift and stomach lift which are helpful in liver disorders. These should be performed early in the morning or evening. Avoid hot showers or baths. Pranayama breathing is effective. Meditation and chanting mantras in a quiet place is important as well. Walks in nature or gazing at the moon are balancing for pitta as well.
The herbs that are important and effective for treating liver disorders are:
Bhumyamalaki
Bhringaraj
Turmeric
Guduchi
Haritaki
Kalmegha
Kutki
Musta
Pippali
Punarnava
Licorice
Panchakarma therapies important for liver ailments and excess pitta would include, poorva karma (pre-purification measures), abhyangaⁱ, pinda sveda, virechana (using avipattikara churna or triphala churna) pizzhichil, and yapana bastiⁱ (using licorice, guduchi, katuki and manjista with milk and honey).  After panchakarma subjects should follow the diet and lifestyle that will establish the balance of pitta. This would include avoidance of afternoon sleeping, exposure to hot sun, exertion, anxiety, alcohol abuse, smoking and irregular eating habits. Diet should be mainly fresh vegetarian food as outlined above.
Rasayana therapies after panchakarma should include pippali for fever fatigue, inflammation, liver and spleen enlargements. The dose would be 1 tablespoon twice a day. Also ashwagandha, sariva, jiraka, draksha would be given in the form of a churna for fatigue, immune enhancer and rejuvenator and to decrease the viral load. The dose would be 1 tablespoon twice a day. Lastly triphala at night would be given for immunodeficiency and chronic illness. This would be one tablespoon at night with warm water.

Complication in Hepatitic C

Blood Disorders

• Essential mixed cryoglobulinemia. This is a disorder caused by abnormal proteins in the blood called cryoglobulins (which in this condition are made up of various antibody types) that leads to joint pains, arthritis, enlarged spleen, inflammation of blood vessels in the skin, and nerve and kidney disease.
• Monoclonal gammopathy (an abnormal level of an immunoglobulin protein in the blood). This seems to be most associated with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 2a/c.
• Lymphoma. This is a type of cancer affecting a certain kind of cell in the immune system known as a lymphocyte. Though rare, studies have shown an association between chronic hepatitis C infection and B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma. This seems to be most common in patients with immunocytoma (a low-grade malignancy) previously associated with cryoglobulinemia.

Autoimmune Disorders

• Thyroid disease. Among other disorders, patients with chronic hepatitis C can have problems with hypothyroidism. This seems to affect women more than men.
• Sialadenitis. This is inflammation of a salivary gland that, when it's associated with hepatitis C, is very similar to Sjögren's syndrome (pronounced SHOW-grins).
• Autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura. Called ITP (or ATP) for short, this disorder causes bruising and bleeding under the skin brought on by a decrease in the number of platelets (destroyed by the immune system).

Skin Conditions

• Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT). This skin disorder is characterized by sun sensitivity, fragile skin, blistering and easy bruising. Though it's not clear how HCV is involved, there is a strong association between hepatitis C and the sporadic form of PCT.
• Leukocytoclastic vasculitis. This is an inflammation of small blood vessels, sometimes in the skin, which often leads to small, dark, round lesions. This condition may also be present with essential mixed cryoglobulinemia.
• Lichen planus. This skin condition is characterized by flat-topped, purple-colored itchy bumps on the skin or mucous membranes that can coalesce to form larger plaques. This condition is also associated with many liver diseases, particularly advanced liver disease.
• Necrolytic acral erythema. This condition, first described in Egypt, is rare in the United States. It's an itchy, psoriasis-like skin disease that is completely associated with hepatitis C.

Kidney Disease

• Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. This is a type of glomerulonephritis where the damage is caused by the immune system. This is usually associated with essential mixed cryoglobulinemia.
• Membranous nephropathy

Other Associated Complications

In addition to the above diseases, other problems are associated with chronic hepatitis C infection. These include diabetes mellitus, various eye disorders and osteosclerosis (a type of bone thickening disorder usually seen in patients with a history of IV drug abuse or in patients with hepatitis C after blood transfusions).

Medication for Hepatitis C

Test For Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) test is a blood test that looks for the genetic material (RNA) of the virus that causes hepatitis or for the proteins (antibodies) the body makes against HCV. These proteins will be present in your blood if you have a hepatitis C infection now or have had one in the past. It is important to identify the type of hepatitis virus causing the infection, to prevent its spread and start the proper treatment.

HCV is spread through infected blood.

• Anti-HCV antibody tests look for antibodies to HCV in the blood, indicating an HCV infection has occurred. This test cannot tell the difference between an acute or long-term infection. The enzyme immunoassay (EIA) may be the first test done to detect anti-HCV antibodies.
• HCV RIBA is an additional test that detects antibodies to HCV. This test can tell whether a positive result was caused by an actual HCV infection or whether the result was a false-positive. This test may be done to double-check a positive EIA test result.
• HCV genetic material (RNA) testing uses polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify an active hepatitis C infection. The RNA can be found in a person's blood within 1 to 2 weeks after exposure to the virus. HCV RNA testing may be done to double-check a positive result on an HCV antibody test, measure the level of virus in the blood (called viral load), or show how well a person with HCV is responding to treatment.
  • HCV quantitative test (also called viral load) is often used before and during treatment to find out how long treatment needs to be given and to check how well treatment is working.
  • HCV viral genotyping is used to find out which genotype of the HCV virus is present. HCV has 6 genotypes, and some are easier to treat than others.

There is no vaccine available to prevent hepatitis 

Test results to detect, diagnose, and monitor HCV include:

Anti-HCV	HCV RIBA	HCV RNA, Qualitative	HCV Infection
Negative			No infection or, rarely, insufficient antibody
Positive	Negative		No infection; likely a false positive
Positive	Need to do	Negative	Likely no infection, past infection, or HCV viral load low
Positive	Positive	Negative	Past infection or HCV viral load low
Positive or Weak or Indeterminate	Not done or Positive	Positive	Current infection
Indeterminate or Positive	Indeterminate	Negative	No infection, past infection, or HCV viral load low